I sold 15 Gorge/wave boards a couple of years ago, and still own and sail close to 20. No way have I ridden every brand, let alone every model, but I do know a lot about a lot of them from personal experience. For my money, time, and sailing style, I consider the 2001 Maui Project Wave lineup to provide one of the highest ratios of performance to cost one can find.

What size board is optimal overall for the usual Gorge sailor? About 80L, I submit. The best 80L boards will perform very well with 3.7 to 5.7 sail sizes (maybe even 3.2 for smaller and/or highly efficient sailors).

What do you call a great deal? One answer is, “an 8’4” 81L* 2001 Maui Project Wave board in very good condition for $90.” Where do you find such a deal? At Windance, on consignment. Hard deck, light weight, and priced to sell yesterday to people who know this line and this size. And it includes straps, fin, and board bag. Ninety dollars!

* Yeah, I know the website says 85L, but the deck and the literature from the time say 81L.

I have no idea whose board this is. I’m just trying to help some lucky sailor get what may the best deal he’s seen in decades in this sport and provide a good home for a great board (not just my opinion; the magazines raved about the MPW for many years).

WSMag REVIEW [with my annotations in brackets]:
Tracks beautifully through drawn-out turns on big waves. For snappier, tighter turns, requires some wave-riding commitment and experience. [Bull. Just press down on your strapped-in rear toes and pull a little bit with your back hand to slash 90 to 145 degrees within one heartbeat with minimal effort. If that's beyond your skills now, it won't be for long with this board and some aggressive sailing]. In onshore conditions [e.g., Gorge, other big lakes], its good volume through the tail holds great speed through upwind transitions on a wave [hell, anywhere. Wanna fly up to Tunnels from the lower Hatch in a weak August current? Just Do It.] For B&J, light weight + speed = air, and channeled bottom gives good bite in the turns even in the roughest conditions. Great acceleration out of transitions makes this board a freestyle performer [by 2001 standards]. Add its light weight and it allows experts to add their own style to the trickiest tricks [again, by 2001 standards]. Even under less advanced sailors, its speed, jibing, and B&J performance kept it on the water in a wide range of conditions … has a knack for making imperfect conditions fun. Its rocker/light weight/[yada yada] allow freeriders to jibe like they’ve dreamed. Some testers found the board suffered in upwind speed [so rig bigger and rip upwind; it’s your choice.] The 8-4 shines in its versatility; big enough for marginal wind, small enough when the wind and waves get good, a one-board quiver for windy areas. It allows you to pack and sail what you want rather than what you need on less than perfect days, and come back smiling.

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MY PERSPECTIVE:
MPWs are widely respected for their user-friendliness, exceptionally smooth and thus fast ride in rough water, silky tight or wide slashes and jibes in chop, and total lack of surprises even when overpowered. Because they’re so light, their decks often go soft. I fondled this one in the store, and it feels solid and light, and I didn't see any functional damage. They’re one of my all-time favorite Gorge and lake B&J boards, and if I didn’t already have a quiver of them, I’d have snapped this one up the day it appeared on Windance’s shelves. GREAT low-cost pathway to enhanced skills and wind range for advancing sailors who care what their gear costs, and buttery smooth performance for experts tired of chop.

Update Nov 18: The following link is now blank, because some lucky sailor bought the board. My work is done. Tell ya what, buyer: if you're good enough to enjoy an 80L board powered up with a 4.2 to 5.2 sail in Gorge conditions and can show me where I misrepresented that board, I'll send you the $90 and you can keep board, bag, and fin. Tip: If you sail it a LOT or very hard, pad the deck between the straps like I do with ALL my boards.

Would anyone who thinks this thread belongs in the Industry News/Promotions section instead of the NW USA geographically regional section where it originated please explain? Nobody's going to pay shipping costs or drive from LA or Salt Lake City just to buy a $90 board, and I'm clearly promoting the board, not some industry, strictly for some thrifty sailor's benefit. Sorry if my choice of forums upset someone, but should one single voice of dissent impact hundreds of readers' exposure to useful facts, opinions, and choices? Who in the market for a $90 board, bag, and fin is going to look for it in an industry forum?

I have no personal stake at all in this issue beyond helping some buyer, and surely Windance's $9 cut doesn't qualify this as "Industry Promotion". I just think letting one reader or moderator decide for all of us on such a minor matter of opinion is an overreach. Am i wrong?

MOST important is that some lucky sailor recently bought it (or the seller slapped himself in the forehead, asked himself, "WTH have I done?", and pulled it from the shelf). My work is done.

And how often do you see ANYONE fully warranty a sale between two other parties (see today's update in the previous post)? Does that leave any of you ANY doubt about how passionate I am about specific older boards and about trying to help people find good stuff and learn to sail it well?

"Industry promotion", my ass. I wonder whether that buyer would have found and bought this board if it hadn't been brought to his attention in a regional forum?

One way is to sail at Roosevelt during the season some tree sheds brown crud that gets on everything. It stains some surfaces. I try to guess before buying a dirty board what it will take to clean it to showroom standards. That's usually fairly easy with a stiff brush, some safe "green" soap, bleach if necessary, a Magic Eraser (very impressive!), and ultimately if necessary some rubbing compound. With sawhorses and a hose a really dirty board can usually look great within 30-60 minutes. I'm constantly amazed how filthy some For Sale boards (and dirt bikes, snowmobiles, cars, and everything else) are. Curb appeal sells.

Give me some feedback on it when you put some time on it, W, like three aggressive reaches. I always get a big grin on my face when I set aside my newer, much spendier boards and hop on my Maui Projects. I sometimes wonder why I ever bought the former.

As for keeping it light, carefully examine the Marine Tex repairs on it. They looked solid and minor, but the Board Lady says any repairs less than cloth and resin may someday work loose at the edges and allow some water entry if the original cloth was penetrated.

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